TV Week

The Almighty Johnsons

February 25-March 2: Including The Almighty Johnsons and Terra Nova

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25

Cricket (Sky Sport 2, Sky 030, 1.31pm). After three Twenty20 matches, the Black Caps are into the one-day series with South Africa. Tonight’s match is from Westpac Stadium in Wellington; on Wednesday, the teams meet at McLean Park, Napier; and the final match is at Eden Park... [more]

When a City Falls

February 18-24: Including MasterChef NZ and When a City Falls

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18
Lonely Planet's Year of Adventures (BBC Knowledge, Sky 074, 8.30pm). A way of travelling the world without leaving home. Adventurer Ben Fogle sets off on a year of adventures, based on the Lonely Planet book of the same name: among the challenges are climbing the via ferrata mountain... [more]

Homeland

February 11-17: Including Homeland and The Trip

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 12
Would I Lie to You? (TV3, 7.00pm). It seems that we’ve finally learnt the lesson that Britain has known forever – panel shows are entertaining and cheap. Stop reading now if the thought of Paul Henry back on television gives you nightmares: he’s the host. Meanwhile, team captains... [more]

2 Broke Girls

February 4-10: Including 2 Broke Girls and Once Upon a Time

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 5
Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets (TV1, 7.30pm). We could listen to Stephen Fry talk about anything so, as he’s a gadget expert, this looks promising. It is, however, mostly a clip show in which various UK celebs talk about the gadget they couldn’t live without. Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen and... [more]

Downton Abbey Christmas Special

January 28-February 3: Including Wilson Dixon and Downton Abbey Christmas Special

SATURDAY JANUARY 28
Australian Open Tennis (Sky Sport 3, 9.00pm). At time of writing, the first round of the women’s singles competition has barely begun: who can say what this evening’s final will bring? Being a women’s final, fashion talk and conversations about whether grunting is ladylike, probably.
SUNDAY JANUARY 29

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Kidnap & Ransom

January 21-27: Including Kidnap & Ransom and Hell on Wheels

SUNDAY JANUARY 22
Hell on Wheels (Soho, 8.30pm). Fans of Deadwood might have their interest piqued by this post-Civil War America building-a-railroad drama, but keep your hopes realistic. Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon (a well-cast Anson Mount) is out to avenge his wife’s death at the hands of Union soldiers, helping to... [more]

Wild Boys

January 14-20: Including Wild Boys and Ab Fab

SUNDAY JANUARY 15
Ocean Giants (TV1, 7.30pm). It's quite the week for aquatic thrills (see Frozen Planet, Tuesday): Ocean Giants follows dolphins and whales across the oceans. In the first episode, cameramen Doug Allen and Didier Noirot are chasing the largest creatures ever known to have existed, blue whales. Bonus: Stephen... [more]

Five Days

January 7-13: Including Five Days and Kai Time on the Road

SATURDAY JANUARY 7
Fresh (TV2, 10.00am). A second season of the show about Pasifika youth culture starts with Shortland Street’s Teuila Blakely hosting a special from Samoa. Each week, the show will be hosted by a different figure from the Pasifika community, including Jerome Kaino, David Dallas and Nicole Whippy.

Michael Palin's... [more]

Zen, photo © Leftbank Pictures 2011

New Year’s Eve-January 6: Including the ASB Classic and Zen

NEW YEAR'S EVE
Top 100 of 2011 (MTV Hits, Sky 060, 7.00pm). Whereas most of the free-to-air channels are seeing in the New Year through the magic of movie repeats, Sky channel MTV Hits is counting ’em down with the year’s hottest songs. What that means we don’t know, but we’re... [more]

Falling Skies

December 24-30: Including Christmas Day and Falling Skies

CHRISTMAS EVE
The Royle Family: Joe's Crackers (UKTV, Sky 006, 7.30pm). Another Christmas of tiny expectations and undreamt dreams with Britain’s other Royle family. In this special, Dave and Denise worry that their gift of a fridge magnet won’t be good enough; Cheryl recounts a romantic encounter in the supermarket car... [more]

Camelot

December 17-23: Including Camelot, Christmas and Cricket

SATURDAY DECEMBER 17
Michael Bublé’s Christmas (TV3, Saturday, 7.30pm). Let’s get all the Christmas specials out of the way early, shall we? It’s always wise to be prepared in case of emergency and rubbish television, and this year’s line-ups are so dire we feel honour-bound to warn you. “Thank goodness the... [more]

The Tudors

December 10-16: Including The Tudors and Getting On

SATURDAY DECEMBER 10
2011 Maori Sports Awards (Maori, 8.30pm). Sports awards ceremonies are usually tedious affairs, what with sportspeople not being known for their public-speaking prowess, but perhaps the Maori Sports Awards will be livened up with a few haka and waiata. Let’s hope so. Expect to hear the word “awesome”... [more]

Five Daughters

Including Five Daughters and Shark Week

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3

Hockey (Sky Sport 2, Sky 031, noon). First the Rugby World Cup and now this: the largest hockey event in New Zealand’s history, the 2011 Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy, was given to Auckland after some governance issue with the Indian Hockey Federation. Owen Glenn was instrumental in... [more]

Southland

Including Election 2011 and Southland

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26
Election 2011 (TV1, TV3, Maori, TVNZ 7, from 7.00pm). Just when we were thinking three weeks was a long time in politics and that, after the euphoria of the Rugby World Cup, we’d have to put up with blathering politicians and their lies, damned lies and statistics, the... [more]

Inside New Zealand: Inside Child Poverty – A Special Report

Including Inside New Zealand: Inside Child Poverty

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 19
Keeping Up with the Joneses (TV1, 7.00pm). Finally, the proper definition of reality TV: life on a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia, which might as well be Mars to us. A camera crew follows the Jones family – Milton, Cristina and three-year-old “Little Milton” –... [more]

Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express

Including Poirot and Dexter

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12
Ice Road Truckers (TV3, 7.30pm). You need to be a special kind of risk-taker to drive 18-wheelers on the most treacherous roads on Earth, but not all the truckers are manly men doing manly work: Lisa Kelly (pictured) is a 28-year-old former bus driver and freestyle motocross champion... [more]

The Killing

Including The Killing and Shameless

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 5
The Russians Are Coming (Maori, 8.30pm). Maori Television continues its Pakipumeka Aotearoa season with The Russians Are Coming, a doco about the little-known meeting between Maori and Russian voyagers in Queen Charlotte Sound in 1820. Two Russian exploration expeditions were sent out in 1819 as part of Tsar Alexander... [more]

Allan Baldwin: In Frame

Including Mad Dogs and Allan Baldwin: In Frame

SATURDAY OCTOBER 29
Allan Baldwin: In Frame (Maori, 8.30pm). There is an eerie moment in this documentary when a photograph is rendered into 3D, and the flame of a match dances above the bowl of a pipe. The effect almost brings to life kuia Ngaakahikatea, her face with its deep-seated moko captured... [more]

The Kennedys

Including the RWC final and the Fair Go Ad Awards

SATURDAY OCTOBER 22
The Palladians (History Channel, Sky 073, 5.30pm). A documentary  into Italy’s Veneto region to meet people who live in houses designed by Andrea Palladio. Considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture, Palladio designed a cluster of villas (by which is meant massive country houses)... [more]

Downton Abbey

Including Downton Abbey and 30 Rock

SATURDAY OCTOBER 15
It’s a Woman’s World (Travel Channel, Sky 076, 8.30pm). New Zealander Camilla Andersen could be in our Flying the Flag series – except the flags would be scattered far and wide all around the globe. She was half of the duo who made the terrific low-budget series Julian... [more]